The disclosures herein relate generally to computers and more particularly to an apparatus for mounting and cooling a system component assembly in a computer.
The thermal requirements of high performance systems have increased significantly over the past few years. With the increasing thermal requirements, the customer's requirements for acoustics and serviceability have also increased. The increased airflow requirements for faster components can be solved two ways, optimizing the airflow through the enclosure or adding more fans to increase airflow throughout the entire enclosure. Adding more fans contradicts the acoustic goals required by the customer.
Serviceability of major components in manufacturing reduces the throughput of new products down the manufacturing assembly line. Ease of service of these items is critical to maintaining the throughput in manufacturing. Eliminating screws and other hardware is key to reducing manufacturing and service times. The design challenge is how to reliably retain critical components and still make the system components in the computer easy and cost effective to manufacture, service and install.
A typical solution for optimizing airflow through the systems is the use of a shroud. The shroud is typically a plastic piece that is added into the enclosure once the system is built. The shroud must then be removed before the customer can gain access to the critical components. The addition of the shroud requires extra time for manufacturing and service. Individual latches or screws are typically used to retain critical components such as memory. These are separate parts, which increase inventory and cost.
Computers include system components that such as memory modules, microprocessors and video controllers that generate a considerable amount of heat. Advances in the performance of many system components demand more effective thermal solutions. Furthermore, these thermal solutions must be offered without sacrificing mechanical support, cost, serviceability, or acoustic performance.
To maintain heat generating components at a suitable temperature level, one or more cooling fans are traditionally mounted in a computer to provide airflow for effectively cooling the heat sensitive components. This requires fasteners or additional components, increasing cost, assembly time, and acoustic noise. In some applications, a separate shroud or duct is sometimes needed to ensure that airflow is properly directed with respect to the heat generating components. The fan or fans are usually mounted to an internal bracket or an external wall of the system chassis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,547 discloses a shroud attachment for positioning a central processing unit (CPU) module relative to a cooling fan on a motherboard in a computer. The CPU module includes an enclosure housing for directing air past the CPU. The system components comprising the CPU are attached to the enclosure such that the system components and the enclosure housing must be removed from the mother board as a unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,214 discloses an expansion card/riser card module which includes a housing within which a riser card and a plurality of associated expansion cards are removably supported and electrically coupled to each other. The housing includes a fan for directing a stream of air over the riser and expansion cards. The construction disclosed requires that the housing and the attached cards be attached to the motherboard as a unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,611 discloses an apparatus for cooling heat generating components in a computer system. The apparatus includes an enclosure having a plurality of walls defining a cavity. A printed circuit board is mounted within the cavity and heat generating components are mounted to the printed circuit board. A first fan is provided for inducing air to flow into the enclosure, and a second fan is provided for expelling air from the enclosure. A baffle is mounted in the enclosure to direct the flow of air over the heat generating components.
RAMBUS In-Line Memory Modules, also referred to as RIMM modules, illustrate one example of high performance system components that operate at a relatively high operating speed. The performance of RIMM modules is attained through a high-speed bus enabling clock speeds in excess of 400 MHz. Through the use of one or more riser cards, RIMM modules may be configured to provide memory in excess of 8 GigaBytes. A riser card is connected to a memory connector on a motherboard of the computer and a plurality of RIMM modules are connected to the riser card through corresponding RIMM connectors that are mounted on the riser card.
When designing a computer system using RIMM modules, as well as other heat generating system components, it must be taken into consideration that the performance and operating life of these types of system components are adversely affected by excessive temperatures. The magnitude of memory attainable with RIMM modules and the frequency at which RIMM modules operate can result in the generation of tremendous quantities of heat. As a result, it is necessary to use a cooling apparatus to control the operating temperature of these types of heat generating system components. However, previous apparatuses for cooling system components include shortcomings resulting in the apparatus being costly to manufacture and install, providing limited versatility, adversely affecting acoustical performance and providing limited cooling capacity.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus for mounting and cooling heat generating system components that provides enhanced cooling capability, that can be cost effectively manufactured and installed, that can be used with a variety of system component configurations and that limits induced acoustical noise.